Yosemite National Park was established in October 1890, and is the 3rd oldest National Park inside the USA. It is situated in the state of California and has an area of almost 1200 square miles. It is also home to approximately 300-500 black bears. The most famous and photographed site within the park is the ‘Half Dome’ of which I have uploaded several pictures taken from different view points & at various times of the day.

The first two pictures were scenes captured along the Tioga Road Pass, whilst entering the park from Lee Vining.

Scene from along the Tioga Pass

Tenaya Lake

The next picture was taken when you start to drop down towards the valley floor where you get your first view of the ‘Half Dome’

Situated within the National Park are several types of accommodation. For the luxury stay and situated right in the centre of the valley floor is the Ahwahnee Hotel.  The hotel is built on the site where once a village stood which was occupied by the native Miwoks.  It was designed in 1925 by Gilbert Stanley, and was chosen for it stunning views of the ‘Half Dome, Yosemite Falls & Glacier Point’.   “Ahwanhnee’  translated means ‘Place of the gaping mouth”.

The Ahwahnee Hotel

There is another luxury hotel within the National Park, which is the Wawona Hotel, it is situated near to the South entrance of the Park. The hotel was rebuilt in 1878 the year after a fire destroyed the original building and it became part of the National Park, when the Wawona area was integrated within Yosemite in 1932.  Many famous people have stayed at the Wawona, which have included, Ulysses S Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, John Ruskin & lily Langtry.

Wawona Hotel

The next couple of pictures show the ‘Vernal Falls’ waterfall. This accessed by a moderate to strenuous 3 mile hike up a & over Granite rocks. At the time these pictures were taken(July) the water coming over the fall is at it’s weakest. I have visited the falls in May/June and the water force is around 2to 3 times stronger.

Vernal Falls

Vernal Falls

The next set of pictures capture the famous Yosemite Half Dome.  Half Dome is a part of a granite rock formation & it rises more than 4,737 feet above the valley floor. It was originally called TI-SA-CK meaning cleft rock in the language of the local native american.

Half Dome as seen from the valley floor

Half Dome

Half Dome

Half Dome @ SunSet

Half Dome as seen from Glacier Point

Half Dome as seen from Glacier Point

The next pictures show the great granite monolith ‘El Capitan‘ which extends to approximately 3,000 feet. The local native americans called it ‘TO-TO-KONOO-LAH’, meaning the chief.

El Capitan

El Capitan

The last picture in the set is taken from a view point called ‘Tunnel View’  From this advantage point you can see several land marks that include ‘El Capitan’  ’Half Dome’ ‘Cathedral Rock’ & the Sentinel Dome.

Tunnel View Yosemite

However for the last 5 days we visited the Madikwe Game reserve, which is situated in the northern region of the country, just 20 miles from the border with Botswana. At the reserve we stayed at Motswiri Safari Lodge, this was an exceptional lodge, and the staff & game rangers were friendly, welcoming & very knowledgable.

On each day you could go out on 2 game drives, one at around 5.00am & the second around 4.00pm, on the second returning during the hours of darkness, giving opportunities to view the night time activity of the animals.

During our visit we saw Lions with cubs, Lions feeding on a Giraffe, Rhino’s, Elephants, Jackal, Hyena’s, but we were very luck to see a rare Leopard during daylight hours. All in all in was a magnificent trip and I would recommend both the game reserve & the game lodge.

Below are a few of the hundreds of photographs which I took on the trip.

All pictures are copyright by Ian Hood Photography at www.imphotography.co.uk

Lioness roaring

Giraffe at dusk

Bull Elephants engaged in a ruck

A Goshawk

Elephants at the waterhole

A Jackal

European Roller

Lioness with Cubs

Rhino's

Leopard

Although it is one of the PGA european tourmajor events, it had a very relaxed atmosphere with all the major players mixing with the public and signing autographs.

I have to say a very big thank you to Colin Montgomerie, who gave me an autographed Golf Glove, for a colleague of mine who was due to retire from work. Colin was the big name promoting the event, who only lives a few miles from Gleneagles and I never saw him reuse a request for an autograph, well done Colin.

The other big names at the event was the defending Campion, Edoardo Molinari, together with his brother Francesco Molinari.  The great Dane, Thomas Bjorn, the next Ryder Cup Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal and past Open Champion Paul Lawrie, to name but a few.

The weather was a mixed bag over the four days. One minute it was sunshine, then a shower of rain and then the mist rolling down over the mountains. However the majority of the time it was pleasant which allowed for some good photography, hope you enjoy the pictures taken at the tournament.

Colin Montgomerie on the 17th Tee

Jose sharing a joke with Thomas Bjorn

'Little & Large', Chris Wood sheltering from the rain

Paul Lawrie on the 10th tee

Simon Khan on the 17th TeeThomas Bjorn on the 2nd Tee

Edoardo Molinari checking if his putter is in line

Jose Maria Olazabal on the 2nd Tee

Johan Edfors on the 2nd Tee

Monty on the 16th Green

Simon Dyson tees off on the 18th

David Howell on the 18th Tee

All pictures by Ian Hood, please visit www.imphotography.co.uk.

We stayed at the Spion Kop Lodge, which is run by Raymond Heron & his family. Raymond is a historian & lecturer on ‘Battles’ that have been fought on South African soil. His knowledge on the Battle of the Spion Kop is outstanding, & if you are ever planning a visit to the Spion Kop, I would highly recommend staying with Raymond & his family.

What follows is a brief and condensed summary of the ‘Battle of the Spion Kop’

The Battle of Spion Kop took place on the 23-24th January 1900. It has been described as one of the bloodiest of all battles fought in the 1899-1902 Anglo Boer War. It is also noted that such great men as Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi & the Boer General Louis Botha all fought at the same time. Spion Kop means ‘Spy Hill’ which was named by the Dutch settlers for the commanding views it afforded.

The battle arose as British forces marched towards the town of Ladysmith that was held under siege by the Boers. The British could not advance onto Ladysmith, without passing a row of fours hills that included the Spion kop, where the Boers were encamped.

The British forces numbering over 2,700 were from the Second Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, the Second Battalion of the Royal Lancaster Regiment & the First Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment. The British High Command was led by Sir Revers Bullers.

On the morning of January 23rd, led by General Sir Charles Warren, the British troops advanced towards the Boers. On surveying the Boer line, Warren decided to make an attempt to capture the large hill known as the Spion Kop. Moving forward through heavy fog, the British succeeded in driving a small Boer force off the crest off the hill. As they attempted to dig in, they found that the summit was largely rock. This hampered the digging of trenches and as a result the British trench positions were only 16 inches deep.

When dawn broke on January 24th, the British found that they had failed to occupy the highest parts of the Spion Kop. Their position consisted of only the lower parts of the hilltop while the enemy held superior positions on three sides.

A fierce battle ensued with the Boer artillery bombarding the British positions, this combined with the Boers firing from the higher ground pinned the British down. The intense heat, lack of water & the relentless shelling took its inevitable toll on the British.

The next morning the Boers were shocked to find that the British had withdrawn from the Spion Kop, but the Boers were too fatigued to continue the pursuit of the British.

As a result of this battle the British suffered 243 fatalities & around 1,250 men were either wounded or captured.  The Boer losses numbered 68 killed & 267 wounded/missing. Many of the soldiers were buried in trenches where they died & the memorials are erected next to these graves.

To commemorate their fallen, on returning home the surviving soldiers named stands at their local football grounds ‘The Kop’. The most famous of these being ‘The Kop’ at Anfield, the home of Liverpool Football Club.

This is the memorial that was erected on the site where Sir Revers Bullers commanded the British soldiers whilst attcking the Boers on the Spion Kop.

Raymond Heron (pink shirt & hat) giving a talk on the 'Battle of the Spion Kop'. The photo was taken from the Sir Revers Bullers memorial & the Spion Kop is in the far distance

On the Spion Kop

Memorial to the Imperial Light Infantry

Memorial to the 1st Battalion South Lancashire Regiment

Walking towards the Boer soldiers memorial

Memorial to the Boer Soldiers

The Main Memorial for the British Soldiers

British Soldiers Memorial

The stones running between the 2 crosses is where the majority of the British soldiers died in battle & are buried where they fell.

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On Sunday 17th July 2011, at Royal St Georges Golf Course, Darren won the Open Championship, his first major tournament win after more than 20 years & 54 attempts.

The following pictures of Darren were taken during the 2010 Barclays Scottish Open, which was held at the Loch Lomond Golf Club.

Darren Clarke

Darren Clarke driving from the 2nd Tee

Darren lining up a put

Darren Clarke putting

Just Missed

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The bride Jane, looking stunning in a traditional white wedding gown, decided to walk from her home to the church. Along this route Jane had to negotiate the main street that runs through the village, this resulted in numerous car horns being sounded in celebration at the sight of Jane & her bridesmaids crossing the road.

The reception was held at the Stables Wedding Venue, another stunning location, which is situated adjacent to St James Church.

Julian & Jane at St James Church

Jane & Bridesmaids making their way to church

Julian & Ushers

Julian & Jane outside St James Church

The Happy Couple.

Distinguished guest’s who attended the BBQ included Doncaster’s civic Mayoress, Eva Hughes & representatives from Doncaster BMW Mini. Also in attendance were Tony & Liz Brown, who arrived in their 1928 open top tourer Rolls Royce.

During the day, Doncaster experienced several thunderstorms.  However just prior to the event opening the skies cleared and we were blessed with brilliant sunshine, as the attached photographs show.

Nigel Dibb, Holiday Inn Manager

Doncaster Civic Mayoress, Eva Hughes

Tony & Liz Brown, with their 1928 Open Tourer Rolls Royce